ArtLink Festival: CONCERT – Camerata Janaček, Czech Republic and Robert Lakatoš, violin, Serbia

Written on October 4, 2016.

Ilija M. KOLARAC Endowment Concert Hall,
5 Studentski square, Belgrade,
Tuesday, 4 October 2016 at 20:00h

In cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic – Czech Culture Days

This concert is a part of the Festival’s “Focus Visegrad” segment and the Balkan-Visegrad Cultural Bridge project supported by the International Visegrad Fund.

Camerata Janaček, Czech Republic

The Camerata Janáček Chamber Orchestra was founded at the end of 1998. Its string base is composed of 13 musicians, leading players of Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava. On occasion, a harpsichord or a wind instrument and percussion accompany the orchestra, if a score of the performed work so requires.

The characteristic features of the musical expression of this ensemble are not just fresh musicality but also precise technical formulation and tone culture. The orchestra demonstrates these qualities regularly at their concerts in the Czech Republic and abroad. Camerata Janáček has performed at the following music festivals, among others: Easter Festival of Sacred Music in Brno (1999), Janacek May Ostrava (2003, 2007), Saint Wenceslaus festival (2005, 2007, 2008) in Ostrava and also the serial cycle of Czech Philharmonic Orchestra “Czech Chamber Orchestra” at the Dvorak Hall of the Prague’s Rudolfinum (2003), a festival of Smetana’s Litomyšl (2005), Strings of Autumn in Prague (2002) and Viva il canto in Těšín. The orchestra has given concerts in South Korea (1998 tour), Austria (1999), Italy (2000), Spain (two grand tours in 2000 and 2002), Poland (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008), Belgium (2006 tour) and in the Netherlands (a chamber concert in Amati Ensemble Maastricht-2006). It has cooperated with outstanding Czech soloists, e.g. with the guitarist Lubomír Brabec, violinists Pavel Šporcl, Václav Hudeček, Ivan Ženatý, Jiří Vodička, Martina Bačová, Petr Maceček, cellist Jiří Hanousek, soprano Martina Janková, pianist Lukáš Vondráček, and with foreign soloists (Viktoria Jagling-Finland-cello, Gill Sharon-the Netherlands-violin, Nataša Veljkovič-Serbia-piano and many others). The orchestra regularly performs at the chamber concerts of Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava.

The repertoire of Camerata Janáček includes compositions of all stylistic periods from baroque music to the works of contemporary composers.

The Camerata Janáček Chamber Orchestra

The orchestra records for Czech Radio (recently the recordings of Mendelssohn’s early symphonies have elicited a very favourable response) and cooperates with TV Noe. Recently, Camerata Janáček released their second CD entitled “Dvě velká M” (2006), where it introduces a confrontation of well known and lesser-known compositions of W. A. Mozart and B. Martinů. (The first CD featured symphonies of Flemish classicist maestro, Pieter van Maldereho – released in 2000.)

In June 2008 Camerata Janáček together with Martina Bačová performed at the Slovak Dunajská Streda at an important concert within the Czech-Slovak project “Castle Concerts”. Czech Radio III – Vltava and Slovak Radio – Devín, broadcasted this concert live.

Pavel Doležal, violin, concertmaster

The art director of Camerata Janáček, the violinist Pavel Doležal, belongs to the middle generation of Czech music interprets. His hometown is Ostrava. Already during his studies (Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) he successfully participated at a number of national and international interpretative competitions (he is a two-time winner of international violin competition Beethoven’s Hradec.)

Since 1989 he has been a member of Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, where he holds the function of concertmaster. Pavel Doležal regularly engages in a chamber and occasionally in solo performance. (Most recently he performed in 2008 together with Martin Kasík and Jiří Hanousek in Beethoven’s trio accompanied by Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava.)

As a concertmaster and chamber performer, he has attended a number of concert tours in Europe and Asia (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) North America (USA) and Australia. Since 1998 he has been the head and soloist of Camerata Janáček, for several years he worked as a pedagogue at Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava.

Robert Lakatoš, violin, Serbia

Robert Lakatoš began studying violin at the age of seven in his hometown of Novi Sad, mentored by his father Imre Lakatos. As the youngest violin student in the history of the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Lakatos completed his undergraduate and master studies under the renowned pedagogue Dejan Mihailovic. He continued his formal education at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) under Professor Rudolf Koelman, where he was awarded a scholarship for the exceptionally talented musicians by the Swiss Lyra Foundation. Lakatos has attended master classes and study programs held by the world’s leading violinists, among them being Shlomo Minz and Itzhak Rashkovsky within the Keshet Elion Camp (Israel), Aaron Rosand at New York’s Summit Music Festival, as well as Pavel Vernikov and Roman Simovic. Currently, he is studying with Julian Rachlin at Konservatorium Wien.

Among numerous first and special prizes Robert has won at national and international competitions, the most notable ones are the first prizes from the following international competitions: Pablo Sarasate (Pamplona, Spain, 2015), Mary Smart Concerto Competition (New York, 2013), Societe Generale Serbia (Belgrade, 2009), as well as the second prizes at Jeunesses Musicales Romania (Bucharest, 2012) and Andrea Postacchini (Fermo, Italy, 2012). Robert Lakatos develops his concert career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing as a soloist with numerous orchestras in Europe, Israel and the United States. Robert Lakatos has made recordings for radio and TV stations in the country and abroad. He was awarded the Best Young Artist by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (2006) and the Vojvodina Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lakatos holds the position of Violin Associate Professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. He plays the violin by Svetozar Bogdanoski and the bow made by Vladimir Radosavljevic.

“I have had the great pleasure to work with Robert Lakatos during the years he was a student in my class at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland. Robert Lakatos has often shown a flawless technique along with a very emotional and touching musicality. I my opinion Robert Lakatos is one of the most promising violinists of his generation.”

Rudolf Koelman